CALLS FOR HIGHER CANADIAN LOTTO MAX JACKPOTS IN THE FUTURE

The Lotto Max draw that takes place in Canada on Friday June 8 will again see the jackpot at its maximum level of $60m. In addition, there are 52 additional $1m MaxMillions prizes up for grabs. A fantastic set of prizes but questions are being asked if the cap on the Lotto Max jackpot should be increased.

Explaining why there is a cap at $60m, Angela Law of the British Columbia Lottery Corporation said, “It’s designed to allow the players to feel like they can dream about it, but it’s not too much that they wouldn’t know how to manage.” It’s essentially giving us more chances to make people millionaires in Canada,” she added,

The system used for the Lotto Max draw is different from most lotteries around the world. When the $60m cap is reached, the MaxMillions prizes come into play and since April 27 players have won $69m in MaxMillions prizing. There is also more than one set of numbers drawn.

Lotto Max ticket sales have been increasing 20 per cent each week on average since the cap was reached with over 19.5m tickets sold last week including one Lotto Max ticket that was 17m long. But not everyone is happy that the jackpot remains at $60m. “I want the big, big, big,” said one player. “Sixty is not enough. Let’s go up to $100 million, $150 million.”

Jackpots are of course much larger in the neighbouring USA. Some Canadians would love to see wins such as the $456.7m Powerball jackpot won by The Emerald Legacy Trust in Pennsylvania, USA. They can only dream at present of getting a big win such as the $533m Mega Millions jackpot scooped by Richard Wahl from New Jersey, USA.

Not every Lotto Max player wants to see changes though. “I’d rather have it spread around,” said a woman buying her Lotto Max ticket last week. “I don’t need that much money…Sixty is enough.” That’s most likely what the syndicate from Montreal thought when they won a $60m Lotto Max jackpot. Another player who bagged a $60m Lotto Max prize were Brett McCoy and his wife Robin Walker from Alberta.

The British Columbia Lottery Corporation aren’t prepared to see increased Lotto Max jackpots. They believe in the current system and feel that limitless Powerball-type lottery jackpots with just one set of numbers drawn would reduce the number of overall winners every week.